Leigh Halfpenny – one of Wales’ all-time greats – has retired from playing.
After a career embracing 101 Wales caps and 801 points – and a British Lion – he is calling it a day aged 37.
Having emerged form Gorseinon’s junior set up, Leigh made his first-class debut for Neath as a 17 year old. Even at that tender age he seemed assured of greater things and he would undoubtedly have played more for the Club had his dentistry studies not taken him to Cardiff.
It was the start of a great career which took him all over the world. As Gareth Wynn Owen of BBC Wales so aptly put it, “Halfpenny’s club career started at Neath in 2006 and took him from Cardiff to Toulon, the Scarlets, New Zealand and Harlequins, with European success along the way. But Wales always felt like the centre of it. Players like this, so tied to the detail of the game, usually leave something behind. Which is why this one feels like more than just another retirement.”
Leigh Halfpenny did not play an awful lot of rugby football for Neath but even as a youth always performed creditably when he did. More importantly, he has since always conducted himself supremely well and his career reflects a real credit to the Game – which is what Neath RFC is all about and we wish him well in the future.